Devices in a computing system (e.g., personal computer, laptop, cell phone, controller, server, storage router or other computing system known in the art) usually must communicate with one another to effectuate the end for which they are designed. Communications between elements in a computing system can generally be grouped under one of two rubrics, either the communications is a data communication or a management communication.
In some cases, the same transport medium and protocol may be utilized to deliver both management and data information. As traffic increases, however, this may have a noticeably adverse impact on the functionality of the system. Because both management and data information utilize the same transport medium, at some point management traffic must be sorted from data traffic. This places an additional processing overhead on what is typically an already heavily burdened system.
To combat these problems, an out-of-band management solution may be implemented in the computing system. This computing system may handle data traffic in one protocol transported over one type of physical medium, while management traffic is communicated between elements of the computing system in another protocol on a distinct physical medium.
FIG. 1 depicts one example of such a solution implemented for a series of managed routers in the setting of a storage network. Routers 120, 122, 124 may be a series of storage routers designed to implement an integrated storage solution. Each router may have interfaces capable of receiving data and routing that data to another location. To manage the integrated storage solution, management software may be executing on a separate computer system 130. This management software may perform administrative tasks associated with the storage network, or implement logic associated with the storage network, such as mapping information for the routing of incoming data communications.
Management information may be communicated from the management computer system 130 to one or more of the routers 120, 122, 124 through a switch or hub. In one embodiment, routers 120, 122, 124 are configured to route fiber channel communications to SCSI devices while the management communications may be communicated from management computer system 130 to routers 120, 122, 124 using the Ethernet transport medium, and various communication protocols, such as TCP/IP.
As is known in the art, to communicate management information to routers 120, 122, 124, management computer system 130 sends the communication to Ethernet switch 110. Ethernet switch 110 may then forward the incoming communication to the proper router(s) 120, 122, 124. Consequently, to facilitate these management communications, Ethernet switch 110 must be directly coupled to each of routers 120, 122, 124. If there are n routers in a storage network, this requires at least n+1 cables, one cable from management system 130 to switch 110, and one cable from switch 110 to each of the routers 120, 122, 124. Furthermore, power must be supplied to each of switch 110 and routers 120, 122, 124. This results in an additional n+1 cables, one cable from power supply 140 to switch 110, and one cable from power supply 140 to each of routers 120, 122, 124. Thus, for any given set of n routers 120, 122, 124 in a storage network, at least 2n+2 cables are required to deliver power and management information to these router 120, 122, 124, not to mention the cables required for the actual implementation of the data traffic routing.
This plethora of cables brings up a whole host of difficulties. First of all, the number of cables may present reliability issues. Besides the cabling required for data traffic, each router 120, 122, 124 now has two additional points of failure, the management interface from switch 110, and the power cable from power supply 140.
Part and parcel with this, the number of cables required to set up routers 120, 122, 124 and switch 110 may entail a time consuming and complicated initial setup, resulting in a nest of wires. Diagnosing a future physical problem within this nest of wires may be a virtual impossibility, as the various connections and uses of each of these cables may be difficult to discern at a later time.
Furthermore, this solution to managing components may reduce the efficiency and efficacy of the set of components. For example, routers 120, 122, 124 which exist in a storage network are usually contained in what is termed a “rack”, which is a storage location having a number of slots for the placement of routers 120, 122, 124. However, in the arrangement depicted in FIG. 1, one slot of the rack which contains routers 120, 122, 124 would usually contain switch 110 as well. The physical space requirements of switch 110 typically mean that one less router 120, 122, 124 can be placed in a rack, resulting in a larger more ungainly system while simultaneously reducing the efficiency and power of that system.
Thus, a need exists for a method and system for distributing management information in a computer system which utilizes existing physical connections, including power connections.